


12 Days of Christmas

by Raibean



Series: The Cloneverse Fics [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Ultimates
Genre: Clones, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:45:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7915681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raibean/pseuds/Raibean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Tony have fallen face-first into parent Steve's twelve clones. But when Tony is away on business the twelve days after Christmas, Steve has no one but the other Ultimates and one awesome babysitter to help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day Zero: Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Steve Clones](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/64974) by ironfries (machinate). 



> I'm drawing from a lot of the Ultimates universe as far as past events (the existence of Greg Stark, Spider-Woman's origin story, everything about Nick Fury and Monica Chang) but I also have some MCU set-up (notice the lack of Ant-Man, Wasp, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch on the team. Also the lack of Bruce being in jail). I hope to incorporate more of the Ultimates universe if/when I continue the series (minus the horrible deaths of all the women on the Ultimates team).
> 
> This concept was created by valtyr, artwork was created by ironfries, and copperbadge named them.

“It’ll be okay,” Tony reassured Steve.

  
"I can't believe they're making you work on Christmas," Steve said.

  
"I'm not working," said Tony. "I'm just traveling out… to work…"

  
Steve stared at him.

  
"Okay, yeah, they're making me work on Christmas. But all the kids are asleep and we actually got to spend Christmas together!"

  
“It was horrifying,” Steve whispered. “I was expecting it to be, you know, happy.”

  
Tony shrugged. “Anthony and Carl were happy. Most of them were happy! It was just the babies who were unhappy because, y’know, they're babies and they don't get it.”

  
“And Beth,” Steve said. “Beth was…”

  
Tony sighed. “I'm gonna leave. I'm gonna Skype you guys every day. JARVIS and our teammates will be there to help you. When I get back, we’re all going to Disney World. And after that, we can worry about getting Beth evaluated.”

  
“What do you think it is?” Steve asked.

  
“I am not an expert in any way shape or form,” Tony said slowly, “but I think she might be autistic.”

  
“I've literally never heard of that.”

  
“Of course you haven't. You can look it up, but don't freak out. It's not fatal or anything, and we can figure out the rest along the way.”

  
“You're a good dad, Tony,” Steve told him.

  
Tony froze and turned to Steve. “Don't say that,” he said. “I am an international playboy –”

  
“My long-term boyfriend.”

  
“- billionaire –”

  
“You just started taking cooking classes because because, and I quote, ‘I don't want the kids eating that processed shit, even if it's organic’.”

  
“- engineer –”

  
“You just taught Anthony to code last week.”

  
“- and I don't have time to be a dad, good or bad.”

  
“You're taking us on a family trip to DisneyWorld, Tony. I think you dive headfirst into this father thing and you haven't looked back since.”

  
Tony’s face was red. “Take it back.”

  
Steve kissed his forehead. “No.”

  
“I'm gonna skype the kids and not you. Make sure Lottie gets enough tummy time, she's just starting to crawl. I think she'll be really moving once I get back.”

  
“I love you,” Steve told him.

  
“I love you too, jackass,” Tony muttered.


	2. Day One: December 26th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve fails to handle breakfast.

“I don't wanna get up,” Anthony whined. “What am I gonna do without Tony?”

“He got you a StarkPad for Christmas,” Steve said. “He even programmed you an app to help you code. I'm sure you can think of something.”

Anthony sighed. 

“It's only twelve days, Andy. Then we’ll go to DisneyWorld.”

“Can I sleep until we get there?”

“No.”

“I don't wanna do anything,” Anthony said.

“Do you wanna practice with my shield?” Steve asked.

“I guess…” Anthony got up and shuffled his way over to his dresser.

*****

Beth was easier, in her own way. 

“Where's Tony?” she asked.

“Vancouver,” Steve explained. “It's a city in Canada. He will be back in twelve days.”

Beth nodded, but she didn't look at Steve.

*****

“You can’t make as good French Toast as Tony,” Carl said.

“How about I make you some cereal?” Steve asked.

She sighed. “It won’t taste the same.”

Steve turned to Dierdre. “Do you want some cereal?”

“I only eat things with carrots in them,” she said.

Calling a baby sitter to help you out while you were home was ridiculous, and Steve had no idea if there was any kind of etiquette involved. But he texted anyway.

  


“Papa, I’m hungry,” Dierdre whined.

“Are cooked carrots okay?” Steve asked weakly.

“Yeah. And peas. And mashed ‘tatoes. And chicken.”

“You can have those if we have leftovers,” Steve said, frantically searching through the fridge. 

There was a knock on the window.

“Oh thank god,” Steve said. “It’s open!” he called.

Tony had actually had a handle installed on the window so it could be opened from the outside (but not the inside). Jessica climbed in and pulled off her mask.

“Hey, guys!” she said.

“Jessie, you need to make me breakfast because Papa is useless!” Dierdre shouted.

“Okay, okay,” Jess said. “Let me get settled in.” She took her duffle bag and walked to the bathroom.

“You’re the best!” Steve shouted.

*****

“So Tony’s working in Canada?”

“Something about putting new people in charge of Stark America now that Greg is in jail.”

“Shitty,” Jess said. 

“But DisneyWorld afterwards,” Steve pointed out.

“True.” Jess glanced at the surveillance TV. Everyone was still napping, even Anthony.

“I don’t know how we’re going to do DisneyWorld. Do you wanna come?”

“Ugh.” Jessica splayed out on the couch. “Can’t you just take the other Ultimates? I can handle New York for the three days you’ll be gone.”

“Well, that would be two babies per person,” Steve said. “I don’t know. It’s not really a team thing this time. They wouldn’t be able to go off and do whatever.”

“So let them stay longer. Hire temporary nannies.”

“Like who?” Steve asked.

“Like some X-men. I’m sure they’d love to go to DisneyWorld. And you can trust them. And they can protect the kiddos.”

“This trip is starting to get expensive,” Steve said.

“Don’t act like you don’t have money,” Jessica said. “If SHIELD wasn’t already paying for my apartment, babysitting your twelve kids would pay all of my living expenses. And my college tuition.”

“You go to community college; the tuition isn’t that expensive.”

“Fuck you, I could barely scrape that shit together before I started babysitting your clone-nuggets.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Just because I'm at a community college doesn't mean the textbooks are cheaper.”

“Point taken,” Steve said. “What am I gonna do with these guys for twelve days?”

“Well the good news is that there's only eleven and a half left,” Jess said. “But if you're really going to start having no X-men babysit for you, you should probably have them come over sooner rather than later.”

“I'll have to talk to Tony before making a firm decision on that,” Steve said. 

“That's understandable,” Jess said. “But just think about it: X-men Idol, and the prize is a trip to DisneyWorld.”

“They'll be working during that trip to Disney World.”

“So pay them a grand or two each at the end of it. Then they can pay for their own trip to DisneyWorld.”

Steve nodded. “Can you stay?” He asked. “Not the entire twelve days, by at least a little bit each day? I'm just not confident on my own.”

“Really?” Jess asked. “I would think that Tony would be more scared of parenting.”

Steve shrugged. “Tony was there ever since the beginning. We’ve been doing this together, and Tony has done all the heavy lifting. He does the research on child development; he reads the research from the Roxxon cloning program and how they were raising these guys. He takes cooking classes because he's worried about their nutrition. He… He stopped smoking and drinking because he wants to be around for them. He’s just this amazing, dedicated parent, and I can't do it without him.”

“You know what, Steve?” Jessica said. “I may just be a clone who recently turned two years old –”

“Congrats on being seventeen,” Steve said.

“- but I bet that Tony thinks the same thing about you. And Tony never did this alone! He had four people helping him for twelve days, and that's just the child-rearing part. He had quite a few SHIELD agents doing the super sleuthing and backing him up on the heroics. So there's that.”

Lottie started to cry.

“That's my cue,” Steve said.

*****

“Everyone else asleep?” Tony asked when Steve finally came back.

“In bed, at least,” Steve assured him. “It’s just this one.”

Tony leaned toward the camera. “That’s Kate, right? We really need to get them all different haircuts.”

“None of their hair has grown long enough for that. But yeah, this is Kate.”

“I’m just saying we could shave their initials into the side of those military haircuts.”

Steve laughed, then stopped. “You’re not serious, right?”

Tony waved his hand. “Maybe? I could go either way on this one.”

“I’m vetoing it.” Steve turned Kate around. “Kate, look at Daddy.”

Tony blushed. “Don’t have them call me that,” he said. “They’ll never stop.”

“Good.” Steve kissed Kate’s forehead. 


	3. Day Two: December 27th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint helps out. One of the kids learns a new word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short, guys! College is really starting to pick up right now. I'm hoping to post at least one chapter a week, so I'll be working on the next one on Saturday at my write-in. Hopefully there won't be as much of a delay for the next one!

There were companies that made weights for children, but none small enough for three year olds. Tony had them made specially for three year old super soldiers. In the past, the Ultimates didn't do a lot of collaboration with other superhero teams. Now Tony was constantly in touch with the X-men and the Fantastic Four. Most of it was designs for people with super strength or procedure and protocol for children with healing factors. SHIELD had doctors that specialized in hearing factors, but only the X-men had  _ pediatric _ doctors who did. (Not to mention all the other weird things that could happen with mutant physicality.) 

And with the exceptions of Phil and Jess, Tony refused to let SHIELD anything near the kids. Last month Joseph had a fever, and Natasha had to stop him from enrolling in medical school.

Natasha didn't stop him from flying Hank McCoy to the tower, though. That night everybody was on baby duty. Today, it was Clint. Henry, Ian, and Joseph were weight training, and Clint was watching Steve spot them. It was hilarious, like watching a grizzly bear spot for a Yorkie. They had been training for two months now, and they hadn't even started getting definition. Steve had explained to Clint over and over again that it had to do with their muscles just being stronger than other people’s regardless of size, but Clint could never really remember the specifics. 

The kids were alternating between weights with Steve, jump rope, and chin ups with Clint. The bar for chin-ups was adult sized. The first time Clint had seen it, he asked Tony how they were supposed to get up there. Tony looked at him like he was missing the obvious.

“Jump, of course.”

Clint had no idea that jumping was related to super strength, but he sure knew now. He had actually watched Henry jump  _ too high _ a few times and miss the bar completely. That was three year olds for you.

Henry jumped down from the bar. 

“I wanna sing a song,” he told Clint. 

“What song?” Clint asked, trying to remember if Tony let the kids listen to the radio versions or if they had to listen to Kidz Bop.

“The Dinosaur Song.”

“Uh, how does that go?”

“I don't know,” Henry said. “You gotta teach me.”

“How about you ask Steve?” Clint said. “Steve probably knows.”

“I'm busy,” Steve called out. “I don't know what you want, but I heard my name.”

Tears started welling up in Henry’s eyes. His large, blue, puppy dog eyes. 

“I wanna sing a song,” he whined. 

“Can we sing another song?” Clint asked.

“No-o-o-o…” Henry sobbed.

“Steve,” Clint called.

“Busy!” Steve shouted back.

Clint stared at Henry. “Joseph, do you know the dinosaur song?” 

Joseph stopped swinging the jump rope around like a lasso.

“Need kiss?” he asked, pointing to Henry.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Clint said. 

Joseph went in to kiss Henry on the cheek.

Henry pushed him. “No!” he shrieked.

“No pushing!” Joseph yelled. He punched Henry, and they started to wrestle. 

“Oh god no,” breathed Clint. He tried to separate the boys, and one of them – he couldn't tell who – charged him, knocking him over. And he was pretty sure his arm was broken.

“Fuck,” he groaned.

“Hey, don't swear at my kids,” Steve said. He turned around. “Oh, shit.”

“Oh, shit,” Iannosaurus Rex said.

*****

“Well, I’m not proud of today,” Steve told Tony.

Tony laughed. “It couldn’t have been that bad. Did someone stub their toe or something?”

“Henry and Joseph broke Clint’s arm, and I taught Ian his first curse word.” 

Tony shrugged. “Clint breaks his arm twice a year. Might as well get a headstart on next year. I’ll make a new arrow for him when I get back.” Tony paused. “Did you say Iannosaurus Rex, the most perfect boy in existence, swore today?”

“Yes.”

Tony’s grin was too big for his face. “What did he say?”

“He said ‘oh, shit’.” Steve blushed. “It’s my fault. Clint had just broken his arm.” 

“So he used it accurately?”

“Yes?”

“I’m so proud.”

“Tony! This is bad,” Steve insisted.

“Swearing is an important life skill,” Tony said calmly. “I think he’s swearing at a second grade level.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You haven’t even seen him swear.”

“Yeah, but if he takes after you, he’ll be amazing at swearing.”

“Tony…”

“No, seriously, the phrases you come up with are bonkers.”

“Tony, only you could make that sound like a compliment.”

Tony laughed. “I really miss you. I really understand why I didn’t bother getting through these things without drinking. It’s terrible. All we do is sit and talk, nobody does anything. I feel like my mind is racing a million miles a minute, and I have to keep my body still, can’t do any work… It’s horrible.”

“At least when you get home, there are kids and supervillains to wear you out.”

“And a certain soldier,” Tony said whistfully.

“Don’t start with that,” Steve said. “What if we’re being hacked and someone is recording this feed?”

“Then let’s give ‘em an eyeful.” Tony grinned.


	4. Day Three: December 28th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve tries to parent, and Bruce gives him a stern talking-to.

Lottie was refusing to walk. Steve knew she didn’t have any physical problems, either with her muscles or her nerves, or so Hank McCoy said. She could stand, and she would walk, as long as she was holding onto something or someone. But if that person let go, or if she reached the end of whatever object she was crab-walking against, she would very gingerly take two steps, overcompensate for her waddling, then fall to the floor and crawl. Or cry, if she was tired.

“Walk,”Steve told Lottie. 

Lottie reached out for Steve.

“You gotta walk,” he told her.

“No,” Lottie said firmly.

“Walk.”

“Nooooo…” She shook her head.

“Yes,” Steve told her.

Lottie plopped down on her bottom. She cried. Not cute toddler crying… full on screaming, flailing, and tears crying.

“Don’t have a fit because I asked you to do something you don’t like,” Steve said.

This didn’t faze her. 

Steve tried to pick her up.

She screamed, rolled over, and started kicking the floor. Steve hugged her and stood up. Even though they were enhanced like him, he was always worried about accidentally hurting them with his strength, or them hurting themselves on him because they weren’t strong enough to hurt him yet. 

Surprisingly, Hank McCoy predicted that they would all be stronger than him because they had the benefits of both strength training and superstrength from childhood. 

“It’s going to be a different experience, having the serum from the moment of embryogenesis instead of adulthood,” Hank said. “On top of that, Roxxon probably fixed your genetic disabilities during the cloning process. With that and vaccines, their health is probably better off than yours.”

This had definitely reassured Steve, but done nothing to calm Tony’s worrying. Surprisingly, Lottie made the same exact face Tony did when he didn’t wanna do something.

“DADDY!” she screamed. “DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY!”

“Papa’s right here,” Steve said gently.

“No-ho-ho-ho-ho,” she sobbed. She pulled in on herself.

Steve readjusted her, trying to pull her close to his chest. She sprung out, punching his face in the process. Steve put her down and held his jaw in place while his jaw healed.

Lottie started kicking the floor. 

FaceTime it was. 

Tony picked up on the first ring. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Does Joseph have a fever? I know he’s teething. Did Grant jump off the top bunk and hit his head again? Does he have a concussion?”

“Lottie’s having a fit.”

Tony visibly relaxed. “Did you try to get her to walk?”

“Yeah.”

“She’ll walk when she’s ready, Steve!”

“She’s perfectly capable of it!” Steve insisted.

“Maybe physically, but maybe she’s not mentally or emotionally ready, have you thought of  _ that _ Mr. President?”

“I haven’t been sworn in yet,” Steve muttered.

“Give Lottie the phone, dear.”

“Lottie, Daddy wants to talk to you.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tony hissed.

“It’s too late,” Steve said; “the kids call you Daddy.”

“This is a nightmare. Hi, Lottie!”

“Daddy,” Lottie sobbed.

“Who did it, Lottie?” Tony asked.

Lottie pointed to Steve.

“Amazing,” Steve muttered.

“Did he try to make you walk?” Tony asked.

Lottie laid her head down.

“I'm so sorry, baby,” Tony crooned. “Tell him no.”

“No, Papa,” Lottie whispered.

“Oh my god, Steve, did you hear her?” Tony asked with delight.

“Of course I did,” Steve said.

“Lottie, you're perfect, don't ever change,” Tony said.

“Except for the walking thing,” Steve added.

“She'll walk when she's ready!” Tony shouted.

*****

“Do you want a break tomorrow?” Bruce asked quietly. “You haven't really taken a day off since this whole thing started.”

“It's only twelve days,” Steve reassured him.

“No, I mean, since you became a parent.”

“What are you talking about? We call Jess over to babysit all the time.”

“Yeah, and she usually takes about six of them while you and Tony wrangle the others into whatever you're doing. You guys haven't had a date without them in four months. When they got here.”

“We can't just leave them,” Steve said. “I don't want them to get worried.”

“One day isn't going to give them a complex,” Bruce said. 

“But it's not just a day,” Steve said. “It's this trip. Or a mission. Or a supervillain. We’re co stably going to leave them behind to do something, and I don't want them to think we only take care of them because they're our responsibility.”

“Steve, I’m not here to tell you how to parent,” Bruce said.

“Oh good.”

“But I am here to tell you how to live your life.”

“Fuck!”

Bruce took a deep breath. “Steve, take a personal day! Real parents take personal days, and they’re not juggling being a superhero and a special election where everyone wants you to become president!”

“I don’t wanna be president,” Steve whined. “I just wanna cuddle my kids, kiss my boyfriend, and kick HYDRA’s ass.”

“I know, buddy, it’s real rough out there.” Bruce patted Steve’s shoulder to console him. “Take a day, get in some me-time to think about yourself, and don’t stress about the rest of it. We can handle the kids. Besides, the kids should have some more small-group time. Some states don’t even let teachers handle more than 4 kids under the age of 2 when they’re qualified teachers. Can’t imagine giving you 12 kids under 8 and expecting you to just roll with it.”

“I’ve been rolling just fine.”

“I know,” Bruce said. “Let’s keep it that way.”

Steve hesitated, but he nodded. 

“Alright,” he agreed. “You can call Jess.”

“Thank you,” Bruce said mildly. 


	5. Day Four: December 29th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessica takes some kids to visit the X-men.

Jess had to take four kids, so she took Anthony, Beth, Carl, and Dierdre. This was a little different than her usual babysitting gig. Normally, Steve and Tony tried to schedule whatever it was a couple of hours before bedtime or a couple hours before naptime. She could pop in a movie, make sure every ate and drank, then set them down for bed. When the kids woke up, their superhero parents would be back. Occasionally, there was a supervillain doing something stupid, and if Jess wasn’t already dealing with it, they would call her in. Either Steve or Tony would stay behind, gather all the kids into Tony’s private jet, and they’d fly up to the Hamptons for a nice weekend visit (even if it wasn’t the weekend), with the other coming up after the fight was over. That was always nice because they paid extra for travel and supervillains. Not that they weren’t paying her well – she was probably the best-paid babysitter in the world. She felt entitled to that, considering that she was usually watching 12 kids and the fact that both Tony and Steve were loaded. 

Today was different. Today, Jess was taking them to visit the X-men. The kids were all 6 and 7 now (Anthony would be 8 next month), and she had a proposition for Charles Xavier. She’d been mulling it over for a while, and Kitty finally told her to go for it. 

They took one of the jets – the team jets, not Tony’s personal jet. She didn’t ask Steve, even though he was the team leader, but hey, she wasn’t part of the team. Not really. And besides, Natasha was his second, and she knew exactly what was going on. Steve knew they were going to see the X-men anyway, but he probably thought it was just Kitty. 

“I wanna fly,” Anthony said.

“You’re too short,” Jess told him. “When you’re taller, I’ll let you.”

“Daddy flies,” Anthony said excitedly. “Sometimes he puts me in his lap and he lets me steer. Papa just laughs when I ask. Then he says ‘Not on your life, kid’.”

Anthony sounds so much like Steve, it’s funny. Of course they’re clones, but Jess didn’t think a boy as small as Anthony would be able to get his voice so deep. 

“Do you wanna be Iron Man when you grow up?” Jess asked.

“Yeah!” Anthony said, still excited. “Wait, do I have to do business trips like Daddy?”

“No,” Jess asked. “That’s not Iron Man. Iron Man is the superhero. The business trips are because Tony works for Stark Industries.”

“Oh, well, I don’t wanna do that. I think I would miss them too much.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Jess reassured him. “And if you grow up and you decide you don’t want to be Iron Man, you don’t have to do that, either.”

“Grown ups always say that,” Anthony complained.

“Say what?”

“That we don’t have to be superheroes,” Carl said.

“I  _ wanna _ be a superhero,” Anthony told her. 

“Well, most of the grown ups you guys know are superheroes,” Jess said. “They don’t want you to feel like you have to be a superhero just because they’re superheroes.”

“I don’t wanna be a superhero,” Dierdre said. “I want to be Pepper.”

“What?” Anthony asked. “Why do you wanna be Pepper?”

“She wears pretty clothes and she bosses Daddy around.”

Anthony considered this, then nodded.

“What do you wanna be when you grow up, Beth?” Jessica asked.

Beth was silent for a long time, and Jess was worried that Beth was having a non-verbal episode and that she was putting pressure on her to do something she couldn’t do. But then she spoke.

“I want to be an egg,” she whispered. “They’re quiet and no one bothers them.”

“You can’t be an egg!” Anthony shouted.

“She can be an egg if she wants to, Andy!” Carl shouted back.

Beth grabbed onto Jess’ suit around her legs. “Can I be an egg?” she whispered.

“If you want to,” Jess said. “Maybe I can get you a costume. It will be a while til your birthday, though. Or I’m sure your Papa can get you one and pay for overnight shipping.” Jessica had never paid for overnight shipping in her life. Not even when she was Peter. Not that she was ever really Peter; she just had his memories. Cloning was stupid. Gender was stupid.

“Eggs are yummy and nice to play with,” Beth said.

“That’s right.” Jessica ruffled her hair, and Beth leaned against her. “Okay guys, buckle up. We’ll be landing in a few minutes. Anthony, help your sisters.”

“Sisters,” Anthony scoffed. “You mean my  _ clones. _ ”

“Do you want me to tell your dad you said that? Or your pops?” Jessica asked. “Nevermind the backtalk.”

“No,” Anthony whined.

“I’m your sister, Andy,” Carl huffed. She marched to her seat and strapped herself in.

“Hurry up,” Jess said. “You guys will probably be alright if we crash because you’re pretty indestructible, but I don’t want your parents to dock my pay.” 

*****

Being in Charles Xavier’s office was always a little unnerving for Jessica. She had memories – fading memories, but memories nonetheless – of being here when she was Peter. Of course, they weren’t really her memories, since they belonged to an entirely different body. But memories were all she had. She didn’t get Peter’s family or his high school or his girlfriend. In fact, the only people from Peter’s life that she knew was Kitty Pryde, and their friendship was getting more complicated as Jessica explored her gender and sexuality. Peter had never had these problems, but Peter had also died at sixteen. Not to mention he didn’t have weird scientists mucking around with his chromosomes. Well, he did, but it only effected his clones and not him. 

Fuck Roxxon.

Now, while Professor Xavier’s office always made her nervous, the man – er, mutant – himself was so mild-mannered and caring that he put her at ease. Charles had always been willing to help her, even when she was Peter and there was that rumor that Spider-Man was a mutant. Kitty had been trying to advocate for Charles to let her live at the school when SHIELD had stepped in and given her resources. Given her a  _ mentor. _ Now she was starting to build her life from the ground up.

She had been grateful for Charles’ support, and she hoped that she could count on that support now.

“I know it’s not orthodox,” Jessica said, “but I really want to thank you for considering my proposal.”

“I’m happy that you consider me one of your friends,” Charles said. “And I’m always happy to offer help.”

“What about in this case?” Jessica said. “You’ve met the kids. I know you understand why it would be a logistical and security nightmare to try and send them to public school.”

“That being what it is, Jessica,” Charles said slowly, “they are not mutants. They will always be welcome here to visit, to use our doctors and to train their powers, but I cannot in good conscience take resources that could be used for mutants away and use them on children who have, in my opinion, an amazing support system and a wealth of their own resources.”

“You were going to let me in,” Jessica said quietly.

“You had nothing,” Charles reminded her. “And we all saw what happened to Peter. How he had no training and no resources – and how that cost him his life. It wasn’t just Kitty; we were all distraught and grieving. I wasn’t going to let his death pass onto you. But SHIELD got you on your feet. These children will be fine.”

“What are they going to do for school?” Jessica asked. “These kids don’t just need an education, they need a community, and support. I don’t think there’s anywhere else that can give that to them.”

“Wherever it is,” Charles said softly, “I have no doubt that Tony and Steve will move heaven and earth to get it for them.”

Jessica stayed silent.

“They will be fine,” Charles pronounced.

“You don’t see what I see,” Jessica told him.

She left.


	6. Day Five: December 30th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve discuss school.

It was buttfuck early in the morning. As much as Steve was a morning person, and as much as he was a parent who had no remaining personal time, even he wouldn’t be up this damn early if Tony wasn’t in a horrifically distant time zone with a hellish schedule that started early and ran late. He’d slept through supervillains attacking this early in the morning. 

“So last night, I had a really weird conversation with Jess,” Steve began.

“Can I mention that I’m proud of you for taking a personal day?” Tony said. “You get too wrapped up in other people’s needs.”

“Look who’s talkin’,” Steve shot back.

“Yeah, I know,” Tony said with a roll of his eyes. “Maybe I won’t be so hard on myself when I need one of those.”

“A personal day?” Steve asked.

“Yeah.”

Steve could tell he was trying to keep his voice light, but this was obviously a sensitive subject for Tony.

“I just… If  _ you _ take one sometimes, then maybe I’m not a terrible dad for wanting one.”

“Tony, you’re a wonderful father,” Steve said quietly.

“You’re just saying that,” Tony demurred.

Steve was shocked. Tony didn’t really feel this way, did he? “I couldn’t do this without you, Tony. You and I… We haven’t been doing this long, but you understand me. You understand what I want for these kids, and you understand just how important they are to me because they’re just as important to you. I know without a doubt that you’ll fight until you die for the things they need, and you won’t let anything get in the way of spending time with them. You’re not… you’re not your parents.”

Tony’s voice broke. “Thanks. I, uh, I needed that. Especially because I’m so far away.”

“Careful,” Steve teased him. “People are going to start thinking you have feelings.”

“Oh, god,” Tony said. “I don’t wanna do this right now. Tell me about your conversation with Jessica.”

Steve laughed. “Okay, so yesterday, she took Andy, Beth, Carl, and Dierdre to visit the X-men.”

“Sounds like a fun day,” Tony said cautiously.

“Yeah. I like the idea of socializing them with other gifted kids. Well, I guess she also asked Charles if he would be willing to school them there.”

“That’s not a terrible idea,” Tony said. “They would get the socialization they need, and Charles’ school is definitely equiped to handle their superpowers. I can’t imagine superstrength with all of the gangly clumsiness of puberty.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, “but Charles said no. They’re already spreading their resources pretty thin with mutant teenagers, and they don’t want to take on non-mutant ones as a favor.”

Tony laughed. “I guess they have their hands full. Do they have a team devoted entirely to kidnapping mutant kids around the world once they pop their powers? Because I think that’s all Magneto does these days.”

“This whole thing makes me think we should start seriously thinking about their education,” Steve said. “I don’t think we can homeschool them forever. Beth just turned seven. Anthony’s birthday is next month. In a few years, they’ll all be in school, or they should be.”

“We don’t really have a lot of options,” Tony said. “There aren’t a lot of buildings that are built with the structural integrity that’s required for superstrength. Let alone any other powers they might have. Who knows what else Roxxon did to their DNA?”

“Please don’t start on that, Tony,” Steve begged. “You’ll freak me out worrying about these kids.” 

“But maybe Jess had the right idea. Maybe we should start a school. There are already other superheroes with kids, and there are bound to be kids with superpowers we can help. I mean remember –”

“Peter,” Steve said solemnly.

They’d dropped the ball on that one. They both had. And now Peter was dead. They couldn’t let that happen to anyone else… and they wouldn’t let it happen to their children.

“A school seems like a good way to give them training and keep them off the streets until they’re eighteen,” Tony said.

“It’s a good idea,” Steve said. “I bet there are even ex-superheroes who want to do something else, but don’t know what. Maybe we could reach out. Figure out a retirement plan for superheroes.”

Tony laughed. “Says the guy who’s never gonna retire.”

“Why would I retire? I’m pretty sure I won’t even age.”

“I’m jealous,” Tony said. he glanced at his watch. “Shit, I have to go. Cocktail party in an hour.”

“Wish you could stay to talk,” Steve said.

“Me too. I’m probably just going to spend the entire time talking about you and the clone army anyway.” He shook his head. “No one’ll listen. I’m not interesting anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” Steve said. “Just because they don’t love your families doesn’t mean you can’t.”

Tony turned pink. “Okay, just for that I’m definitely sexting you during the party.”

“What if one of the kids grabs my phone?” Steve asked.

“Turn off your notifications and make sure they don’t know your passcode.” Tony winked and hung up.

“Shit, now I have to do it.” Steve laid back in his bed. He could probably fit in a two-hour nap before the kids woke up. Probably. He hoped.

*****

Beth was the one to wake him up. She was petting his hair, and she didn’t stop when she noticed he was awake. Steve stayed lying down, so she could continue to play with his hair. He didn’t always understand why Beth did things, but he knew she would somtimes repeat actions over and over simply because she enjoyed the sensation. Maybe she wasn’t in here to wake him up at all. Maybe she was in here to touch his hair.

“Morning, Beth,” he said.

“Daddy,” she told him.

“He’ll be back soon,” Steve promised. “In seven days. I have a calendar.” 

She didn’t say anything for five minutes. Steve wasn’t sure she was going to say anything at all. Then, finally…

“Too long.”

“I think so, too. We’ll have to tell him when he gets back. I miss him.”

Beth nodded.

“Are you hungry?” Steve asked.

She didn’t say anything at first, so Steve waited.

**Author's Note:**

> So what a lot of people don't know is that the twelve days of Christmas are the days AFTER Christmas. The twelfth day, January 6th, is supposed to be the day the Wise Men showed up at Jesus's house to give him presents. I don't know why I know this, because I am a godless heathen.


End file.
